generasia:Featured article for 2017 week 39
w-inds.
w-inds. is a male Japanese pop group consisting of three members: Tachibana Keita, Chiba Ryohei and Ogata Ryuichi. Though their music style is primarily pop, w-inds. have also dabbled in styles such as hip-hop, rock and R&B. They are managed by VISION FACTORY and published under the Pony Canyon label.
After debuting in 2001 with the single "Forever Memories", w-inds. has enjoyed climbing to success and have had faithful fans following, which is reflected in their sales. In addition to their popularity in Japan, they have a relatively large fan base around other Asian countries (such as Taiwan and Hong Kong) and regularly make television appearances there. They were the only Japanese group invited to perform at MKMF, a Korean music awards.
Tachibana is the lead singer of the group, and initially Chiba and Ogata were to join as back-up dancers. However, throughout their career, Chiba and Ogata both gained larger roles in their music by providing back-up vocals and occasionally rapping. In 2002 together with FLAME and Folder5 they compiled a short studio album titled Earth Harmony.
Their 39th single "Time Has Gone" is released this week on September 27th.
